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nsss1970 Author

Level 1

19 points

Can't format external HDD (after Time Machine Failure)

I have an external HDD that I was trying to setup for Time Machine. That process failed.

I now want to reformat the disk. When I go to Disk Utility I see this:

The partition is greyed, which would be okay.

I right-click the Physical Disk, select erase and this:

Then Disk Utility takes "a bit too long" to unmount the disk (which is odd, because the disk is not mounted) and finally I get this:

Can you help me?

I do not need the data on the disk. I just want to erase it and use it for other purposes.

Thank you.

iMac Pro, macOS 12.0

Posted on Nov 26, 2021 1:39 PM

Best reply

James Brickley

Level 5

4,636 points

Posted on Nov 26, 2021 2:12 PM

There is a known issue with the G-Drives on macOS Monterey. G-Drive is owned by Western Digital and their forums have many users complaining about this problem. So far there is no fix from Apple nor WD. WD suggests reformatting using Big Sur or another computer. But it is unknown if that would even work when moving the drive back to Monterey.

I don't know what the root cause of the problem is wether it's with Apple USB-C issues or if it's an issue with the G-Drive firmware. But you are certainly NOT alone in suffering the problem.

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Can't format external HDD (after Time Machine Failure)

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